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Oil extends losses as dollar strengthens following Trump attack
  + stars: | 2024-07-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com   time to read: +2 min
Oil prices fell for a second day on Monday as the dollar gained ground amid political uncertainty in the U.S. following an attack on U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump while investors eyed the progress of talks for a Gaza ceasefire. Brent crude futures fell 55 cents, or 0.7%, to $84.48 a barrel by 0109 GMT after settling down 37 cents on Friday. The dollar firmed on Monday while U.S. bond futures slipped as investors wagered the attack on Trump made his victory in the upcoming presidential election more likely. A stronger dollar tends to lower oil prices as buyers using other currencies have to pay more for their dollar-denominated crude. Still, oil markets are broadly underpinned by supply cuts from OPEC+ with Iraq's oil ministry saying it will compensate for any oil overproduction since the beginning of 2024.
Persons: Donald Trump, Trump, Tony Sycamore, Brent, Baker Hughes Organizations: Brent, . West Texas, ., Hamas Locations: Stanton , Texas, U.S, Gaza, China, Beijing, Israel
Oil slips on dollar's strength from U.S. jobs data
  + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com   time to read: +3 min
Oil wells are seen at an oil facility by the Highway 5 near Bakersfield in California, U.S. on Nov. 27, 2022. Oil prices nudged lower for a second straight session on Monday, weighed down by a firmer dollar as expectations of interest rate cuts were pushed out further following strong U.S. jobs data on Friday. On Friday, data showed the U.S. added more jobs than expected last month, leading investors to trim expectations for rate cuts and causing the dollar to rally. In the U.S., Washington stepped up purchasing of crude oil to replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after prices fell. Last week, U.S. energy firms cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating to the lowest since January 2022, energy services firm Baker Hughes said on Friday.
Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Le, Tony Sycamore, Sycamore, Brent, WTI, FGE, Washington, Baker Hughes, Hayan Abdel, Ghani Organizations: Brent, . West Texas, greenback, European Union, IG, U.S . Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan, Organization of, Petroleum, bbl, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Iraq's Oil Locations: Bakersfield, California, U.S, European, Sydney, OPEC, Kurdistan, Iraq, Turkey
Oil prices fell for a second day on Wednesday after a report that crude stockpiles in the U.S., the world's biggest oil user, surged and on signs major producers are unlikely to change their output policy at a technical meeting next week. Brent crude futures for May dropped 74 cents, or 0.9%, to $85.51 a barrel at 0420 GMT. U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 9.3 million barrels in the week ended March 22, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Tuesday. Earlier this month, OPEC+ members agreed to extend their output cuts of about 2.2 million barrels per day to the end of June. Highlighting that Iraq is among the OPEC+ members that have admitted to overproducing in recent months, analysts at ANZ said in a report on Wednesday, "traders are also watching OPEC members for any sign they may be altering their stance on production quotas."
Persons: Rong Yeap, overproducing Organizations: Brent, . West Texas, IG, American Petroleum Institute, of, Petroleum, Ministerial, Reuters, ANZ Locations: U.S, Singapore . U.S, Russia, OPEC, Iraq
It also slightly raised its 2023 forecast for growth in global oil demand and stuck to its relatively high 2024 prediction. Last week, oil prices slid to their lowest level since July, hurt by concerns that demand could wane in in top oil consumers U.S. and China. A U.S. crackdown on Russian oil exports could potentially disrupt supply, supporting prices further. Iraq's oil minister expects to reach an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government and foreign oil companies to resume oil production from the Kurdish region's oilfields and resume northern oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. Focal points for the market include the International Energy Agency's latest monthly oil market report later in the day.
Persons: Dun Jiao, Tatiana Meel, Leon Li, Emily Chow, Edwina Gibbs, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Brent, ING, Organization of, Petroleum, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, U.S . Treasury Department, Kurdistan Regional Government, of Commerce, International Energy, APEC, Markets, Thomson Locations: Nakhodka, Russia, Rights SINGAPORE, U.S, China, Washington, Moscow, Iraq, Kurdish, Turkey, Shanghai
REUTERS/Tatiana Meel/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSINGAPORE, Nov 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices inched up on Tuesday after an OPEC report said market fundamentals remained strong and due to concerns supplies might be disrupted as the U.S. cracks down on Russian oil exports. Last week, oil prices slid to their lowest level since July, hurt by concerns that demand could wane in in top oil consumers U.S. and China. Iraq's oil minister expects to reach an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government and foreign oil companies to resume oil production from the Kurdish region's oilfields and resume northern oil exports through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline. Oil prices were also supported by a U.S. crackdown on Russian oil exports, potentially disrupting supply. Focal points for the market include the International Energy Agency's latest monthly oil market report later in the day.
Persons: Dun Jiao, Tatiana Meel, Emily Chow, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Brent, Organization of, Petroleum, ANZ Research, Kurdistan Regional Government, of Commerce, U.S . Treasury Department, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, International Energy, Energy, Thomson Locations: Nakhodka, Russia, Rights SINGAPORE, U.S, China, Iraq, Kurdish, Turkey, Washington, Moscow
Iraq's oil minister, Hayan Abdel-Ghani, speaks during a press conference at Iraq's Majnoon oil field near Basra, Iraq, May 12, 2023. REUTERS/Essam Al-Sudani/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSummaryCompanies Iraq reached understanding with Turkey on oil exportsBaghdad seeks deal to adjust KRG oil contractsBAGHDAD, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Iraqi oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani expects to reach an agreement with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and foreign oil companies to resume oil production from the Kurdish region’s oilfields within three days, he said on Sunday. Abdel-Ghani and top federal oil officials on Sunday started meetings with the KRG's ministry of natural resources and senior Kurdish energy officials to discuss the matter. "The purpose of this meeting is to resolve all issues to facilitate resumption of oil production and exports," Abdel-Ghani told reporters in Erbil. APIKUR's members include international oil and gas companies that have a direct or indirect interest in upstream oil or gas contracts in Iraq's Kurdistan region, many of which have had to stop output because of the pipeline closure.
Persons: Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Essam, Abdel, Ahmed Rasheed, William Maclean, David Goodman Organizations: REUTERS, Kurdistan Regional Government, of Commerce, ICC, Association of, Petroleum Industry, Thomson Locations: Basra, Iraq, Turkey, Baghdad, BAGHDAD, Kurdish, Erbil, Iraq's, Kurdistan, Ankara, Iraq's Kurdistan
BAGHDAD, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Iraq has launched three energy contracts with UAE-based Crescent Petroleum to develop three oil and gas fields in Iraq, the oil ministry said on Sunday. United Arab Emirates-based Crescent Petroleum signed in February three 20-year contracts to develop oil and natural gas fields in Iraq's Basra and Diyala provinces in northeastern Baghdad. The Crescent Petroleum contracts are expected to begin producing 400 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas within 18 months, the oil ministry statement quoted Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani as saying. Abdel-Ghani, who attended the launch at the oil ministry headquarters in Baghdad, said starting operations by Crescent Petroleum will help Iraq to stop gas flaring and use the processed gas to generate electricity. The OPEC producer relies heavily on Iranian gas imports to feed its power grid.
Persons: Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Abdel, Ahmed Rasheed, Louise Heavens Organizations: UAE, Crescent Petroleum, Sunday, United, Thomson Locations: BAGHDAD, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Basra, Diyala, Baghdad, OPEC, United States
Unlike Russia, one of the world's top oil and gas producers, Israel has very modest energy production. But there is a risk the war could spread to major energy producers in the Middle East and affect oil and gas flows. Second, a deal being brokered by Washington to normalise relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which could see the kingdom increase oil output, could be derailed. Saudi Arabia told the White House it is willing to boost oil production early next year to help secure the deal, the Wall Street Journal reported last week. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak added on Thursday that current oil prices factored in the conflict and reflected the market's belief that risks posed by the clashes were not that high.
Persons: Dado Ruvic, Brent, David Goldwyn, Rob Thummel, Janet Yellen, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji, Joe Biden, Helima Croft, Biden, Ben Cahill, Prince Abdulaziz, Alexander Novak, Vladimir Putin, Natalie Grover, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Laura Sanicola, Kirsten Donovan, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, Hamas, U.S . State Department, Tortoise, Iran, U.S, Treasury, Iranian Oil Minister, RBC Capital Markets, Macquarie, SAUDI, Israel, Wall Street, Washington, Strategic, International Studies, Saudi Arabia's Energy, CNBC, OPEC, Organization of, Petroleum, Thomson Locations: Israel, Ukraine, Russia, U.S, Iran, Hormuz, Washington, Saudi Arabia, Strait, Riyadh, Moscow, United States, Tehran, Washington . Saudi Arabia, Saudi, OPEC, London, New York
Al-Jaber serves as the CEO of the state-run Abu Dhabi Oil Co., which has the capacity to pump 4 million barrels of crude oil a day and hopes to reach 5 million barrels a day. He also made the call to the annual Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, which brings together the largest players in the oil and gas industries. And al-Jaber himself has repeatedly said the world must rely on oil and gas for the near-term to bridge that gap. Though all smiles at Monday's conference, al-Jaber has acknowledged the withering criticism he's faced. Iraqi and regional Kurdish government officials did not immediately acknowledge the pipeline reopening, though Iraq's oil minister has said it was anticipated, without elaborating.
Persons: Sultan al, Jaber, al, Al, , he's, it’s, ” al, Haitham, Ghais, Alparslan Bayraktar, , Bayraktar Organizations: United, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi Oil Co, Abu, Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition, Conference, Brent, United Arab, Turkish Energy, Kurdish Locations: ABU DHABI, United Arab, United Nations, Abu, Abu Dhabi, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Jaber, OPEC, Iraqi, Turkish, Turkey, Ceyhan
"Crude oil struggled to keep its head above water on signs of supply tightness easing," said Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes, analysts from ANZ Bank in a note to clients. Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani arrived in the Turkish capital Ankara to discuss several issues including the resumption of oil exports through the Ceyhan oil terminal, a source in the minister's office told Reuters on Monday. Meanwhile, gloom over the economic outlook in China, the world's second biggest oil consumer, continued to pressure oil prices and heighten worries about fuel demand. Putting a floor to oil prices, U.S. crude oil and gasoline inventories were expected to have fallen last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed, as the American Petroleum Institute industry group is due to release data later on Tuesday. U.S. economic data over recent weeks has bolstered expectations for the Fed to keep rates higher for longer, putting a dampener on the demand outlook for oil and a broad range of consumer goods.
Persons: Lucy Nicholson, Brent, Brian Martin, Daniel Hynes, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Muyu Xu, Katya Golubkova, Shri Navaratnam Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, . West Texas, ANZ Bank, Reuters, International Chamber of Commerce, of, Petroleum, Eurasia Group, American Petroleum Institute, Energy Information Administration, U.S . Department of Energy, PMI, Federal, Jackson, Fed, Thomson Locations: Bakersfield , California, OPEC, Turkish, Ankara, Turkey, Iraq, China, Beijing, Eurasia, Singapore, Tokyo
BAGHDAD, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani arrived in the Turkish capital Ankara to discuss several issues including the resumption of oil exports through the Ceyhan oil terminal, a source in the minister's office told Reuters on Monday. Iraqi oil minister will meet his Turkish counterpart to discuss energy issues, on top of which is the resumption of Iraq's northern oil exports via Turkey's Ceyhan port, said an oil official. Turkey halted Iraq's 450,000 barrels per day (bpd) of exports through the northern Iraq-Turkey pipeline on March 25 after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). Turkey wants to negotiate regarding the size of damages it was ordered to pay in the arbitration ruling and also seeks clarification on other open arbitration cases. "Iraq's oil minister is in Turkey to discuss obstacles delaying the resumption of oil exports and how to resolve lingering issues," said an oil ministry official who is close to the Iraqi northern oil exports operations.
Persons: Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Ahmed Rasheed, Ahmed Elimam, Susan Fenton, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Reuters, International Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Commerce, ICC, Kurdistan Regional Government, Thomson Locations: BAGHDAD, Turkish, Ankara, Turkey, Iraq, Paris, Iraqi Kurdistan, Baghdad, Ceyhan, Kurdistan
BASRA, Iraq, July 19 (Reuters) - Iraq secured its $27 billion oil deal with France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) last week by offering quicker, less risky payback through greater revenue-sharing, a model it could replicate in the future to lure investors. The new deal is designed to allow Total to take a portion of revenues from the Ratawi oil field in Iraq's oil-rich Basra region and use them to help finance three other projects, two senior Iraqi oil officials said. In the end, Total took a 45% share while the state-owned Basra Oil Company took 30% and QatarEnergy 25%. Revenues will be split according to those stakes, one of Iraq's senior oil officials said. Iraq's oil officials said the model could be replicated in the future but that would be considered on a project-by-project basis.
Persons: France's, Aref Mohammed, Silvia Aloisi, Timour Azhari, Elaine Hardcastle Organizations: Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Total, Reuters, Basra Oil Company, Thomson Locations: BASRA, Iraq, U.S, Basra, Ratawi, Saudi, Iraqi, Timour Azhari, Baghdad, Paris
Iraq, TotalEnergies sign massive oil, gas, renewables deal
  + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +3 min
BAGHDAD, July 10 (Reuters) - Iraq and French oil major TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) on Monday signed a long-delayed $27 billion energy deal that aims to increase oil production and boost the country's capacity to produce energy with four oil, gas and renewables projects. TotalEnergies Chairman and CEO Patrick Pouyanne signed the agreement with Iraqi oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani at a ceremony in Baghdad, with Pouyanne calling it a "historic day". "I hope that this will be a strong signal to other investors to come to Iraq," Pouyanne said. Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP have all scaled back their operations in Iraq in recent years, contributing to a stagnation in oil production. Iraq's oil production capacity has remained at around 5 million barrels per day in recent years.
Persons: TotalEnergies, QatarEnergy, Patrick Pouyanne, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, we'll, Abdel, Pouyanne, Maher Nazeh, Nadine Awadalla, Timour, Louise Heavens, Jason Neely, Christina Fincher Organizations: Monday, Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Thomson Locations: BAGHDAD, Iraq, Baghdad, Basra, Saudi, U.S, Saudi Arabia, Dubai
Iraq invites foreign bids for 11 gas blocks in new areas
  + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
June 18 (Reuters) - Iraq on Sunday invited foreign companies to bid for contracts to explore and develop natural gas reserves in 11 new blocks as the OPEC member seeks to produce much-needed natural gas for power stations and cut imports that weigh on the country's budget. Iraq's oil ministry has ended preparation to launch a sixth bidding round to auction off the gas blocks, the ministry said, without setting a date for the bidding process. Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, flares much of its own gas, extracted alongside crude oil at its fields, because it lacks the facilities to process it into fuel and instead uses Iranian power imports to generate electricity. Baghdad has been under pressure from the United States to reduce its reliance on gas imports from Iran. Reporting by Hatem Maher and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons: OPEC’s, Hatem Maher, Ahmed Tolba, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Sunday, OPEC, Thomson Locations: Iraq, Anbar, Mosul, Naja, Saudi Arabia, Baghdad, United States, Iran
Three OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday cuts were being discussed among options for Sunday's session, when OPEC+ ministers gather at 2 p.m. (1200 GMT) in Vienna. The sources said cuts could amount to 1 million bpd on top of existing cuts of 2 million bpd and voluntary cuts of 1.6 million bpd, announced in a surprise move in April and which took effect in May. If approved, this would take the total volume of reductions to 4.66 million bpd, or around 4.5% of global demand. The International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to rise further in the second half of 2023, potentially boosting oil prices. "There is simply too much supply," the JPMorgan analysts said in a note, noting extra cuts could amount to around 1 million bpd.
Persons: Leonhard, Russia's Novak, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Suhail Al Mazroui, Prince Abdulaziz, Alexander Novak, Novak, Edward Moya, OANDA, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Julia Payne, Dmitry Zhdannikov, David Holmes Organizations: Austrian, REUTERS, LONDON, OPEC, Organization of, Petroleum, Reuters, UAE's Energy, Brent, Saudi Arabia's Energy, International Energy Agency, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Vienna, Austria, Saudi, OPEC, Russia, Ukraine, China, India, Russian
Three OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday that cuts were being discussed among options for Sunday's session. The three sources said cuts could amount to 1 million bpd on top of existing cuts of 2 million bpd and voluntary cuts of 1.6 million bpd, announced in a surprise move in April and which took effect in May. If approved, this would take the total volume of reductions to 4.66 million bpd, or around 4.5% of global demand. Typically production cuts take effect the month after they are agreed, but ministers could also agree a later implementation. Two OPEC sources said the ministers could also discuss new production baselines from which each member performs cuts.
Persons: Leonhard, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Suhail Al Mazroui, Prince Abdulaziz, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Julia Payne, Dmitry Zhdannikov, David Holmes, Frances Kerry, Christina Fincher Organizations: Austrian, REUTERS, OPEC, Organization of, Petroleum, Reuters, UAE's Energy, Brent, Saudi Arabia's Energy, International Energy Agency, JPMorgan, Thomson Locations: Vienna, Austria, Saudi, OPEC, VIENNA, Russia, Ukraine, China, India, West, Nigeria, Angola, UAE
Three OPEC+ sources said cuts were being discussed among options for Sunday, when OPEC+ ministers gather at 2 p.m. in Vienna (1200 GMT). The sources said cuts could amount to 1 million bpd on top of existing cuts of 2 million bpd and voluntary cuts of 1.6 million bpd that was announced in a surprise move in April. Earlier, two OPEC+ sources said they did not expect the group to agree further cuts. "We will never hesitate to take any decision to achieve more balance and stability (on) the global oil market," Iraq's Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said on arriving in Vienna. The International Energy Agency expects global oil demand to rise further in the second half of 2023, potentially boosting oil prices.
Persons: JP Morgan, Hayan Abdel, Ghani, Prince Abdulaziz, Alexander Novak, Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler, Maha El Dahan, Julia Payne, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Kirsten Donovan, Barbara Lewis, Marguerita Choy Organizations: OPEC, Reuters, Organization of, Petroleum, Brent, Saudi Arabia's Energy, International Energy Agency, JP, Rapidan Energy Group, Thomson Locations: Saudi, VIENNA, Russia, OPEC, Vienna, Russian
"The Development Road is not just a road to move goods or passengers. This road opens the door to development of vast areas of Iraq," Farhan al-Fartousi, director general of the General Company for Ports of Iraq, told Reuters. The Grand Faw Port, which was devised over a decade ago, is halfway to completion, Fartousi said. Passenger transport between Iraq and Europe harkens back to grand plans at the turn of the 20th century to create a Baghdad to Berlin express. But officials say the Development Road is based on something new: a period of relative stability since late last year that they hope can be maintained.
Oil typically flows through Turkey from both the Iraqi state and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). More specifically, this Kirkuk crude flows down the Iraq-Turkey Pipeline linking the north of the Gulf country with Turkey's Ceyhan port in the Mediterranean. But the flows have been paralyzed since March 25 by a legal dispute involving federal Iraq, the KRG and Turkey. This decision led to U.S. companies deciding to exit contracts in Kurdistan and deterred some KRG oil buyers from further purchases. "The ruling party in Turkey [Erdogan's AKP] wants to settle the elections and then deal with KRG's oil with Baghdad."
Persons: KRG, Hayan Abdul, Ghani, , Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, Lawk Ghafuri, Yerevan Saeed, Saeed, Bilal Wahab, Wagner Organizations: CNBC, Kurdistan Regional Government, Turkey Pipeline, International, Commerce's, Reuters, ICC, Baghdad, BTC, Kurdistan, Gulf Institute, Sinjar, Washington Institute for Near East Locations: Turkey, Ankara, Baghdad, Iraqi, Kurdistan, Kirkuk, Iraq, Basra, Paris, U.S, Ceyhan, Baku, Syria, Erbil, Yerevan, Washington
Oil prices fall on stronger dollar, demand fears
  + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com   time to read: +3 min
Oil prices settled more than 1% lower on Friday, falling for the third consecutive week, as the market balanced supply fears against renewed economic concerns in the United States and China. "Lack of confidence in the economy is translating to a retreat to the safer dollar, and is also causing pessimism about oil demand," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York. Meanwhile, China's April consumer price data rose at a slower pace than in March, missing expectations, while deepening factory gate deflation refocused doubts about its recovery from COVID restrictions driving oil demand growth. U.S. oil rigs fell by two to 586 this week, their lowest since June 2022, while gas rigs plunged by 16 to 141, their lowest April last year. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) kept its global oil demand forecast for 2023 unchanged on Thursday, expecting economic risks to be offset by higher Chinese demand growth.
Companies TotalEnergies SE FollowBAGHDAD, May 3 (Reuters) - Iraq and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) expect to kick-start a long-delayed $27 billion project within the next two weeks, Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said on Wednesday. Abdel-Ghani said at a conference in Baghdad he expected five side agreements related to the deal to be signed in the next two weeks, paving the way for implementation to commence. Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said last week the two sides had reached an agreement on Iraq's stake in the project. "I think (it) is a good setup with our finalising of all the paperwork," Pouyanne said on TotalEnergies' first-quarter results call last week. "The government of Iraq confirmed the whole contract, no modification at all ... so that was for me more than a good news," Pouyanne said.
April 24 (Reuters) - Iraq's northern oil exports showed few concrete signs of an imminent restart after a month of standstill, as aspects of an agreement between Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have yet to be resolved, according to four sources. Baghdad and Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, signed a temporary agreement on April 4 to restart northern oil exports. The KRG and Iraq's oil ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Iraq's lack of willingness to discuss these issues has frustrated Turkey, according to one source. Fields which are still running include Khurmala, which has reduced output from around 135,000 bpd to 100,000 bpd, according to a source familiar with field operations.
Baghdad had argued that Turkey had violated a joint agreement by allowing the KRG to export oil to Ceyhan without its consent. Iraq's oil ministry in Baghdad said on Sunday it hopes to reach a final agreement soon with the KRG on resuming northern oil exports. Iraq's oil ministry said that details on the new export agreement would be announced "in due course". The resumption of pipeline flows from Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region will still need approval from Turkey. "A letter of request to resume oil flows will be sent by Baghdad to Ankara," a KRG official told Reuters on Sunday.
LONDON/BAGHDAD, April 1 (Reuters) - Iraq's federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are close to striking a deal aimed at resuming northern oil exports, four sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Saturday. Revenues will be deposited in an account managed by the MNR and supervised by Baghdad, the KRG official said. Iraq's oil ministry spokesman could not immediately be reached outside regular business hours. Baghdad and the KRG have agreed to continue meetings following the resumption of oil exports to find solutions to other lingering problems. "[These include] the contracts of the foreign companies operating in Kurdistan and the Kurdish debts," the senior Iraqi oil official said.
LONDON/BAGHDAD, April 1 (Reuters) - Iraq's federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) are close to striking a deal aimed at resuming northern oil exports, four sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Saturday. Revenues will be deposited in an account managed by the MNR and supervised by Baghdad, the KRG official said. Iraq's oil ministry spokesman could not immediately be reached outside regular business hours. Baghdad and the KRG have agreed to continue meetings following the resumption of oil exports to find solutions to other lingering problems. "[These include] the contracts of the foreign companies operating in Kurdistan and the Kurdish debts," the senior Iraqi oil official said.
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